LOS ANGELES — As UCLA watched its linebackers drop one by one last year, Keisean Lucier-South was plucked from the defensive line to rescue the injury-ravaged unit. The sudden change may have been a glimpse of what’s to come for the redshirt junior.

With UCLA changing to a 3-4 defensive front, Lucier-South moves back to an outside linebacker position more reminiscent of the one he was recruited to play in 2015.

He’s shown small glimpses of the five-star potential that drew comparisons to former UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr, but when injuries decimated the defense last year, Lucier-South had to learn different positions on the fly. Sometimes he got plays diagrammed on the sideline during games before hustling back on the field in a new spot.

The Orange Lutheran alumnus still finished with 53 tackles, the fifth-most on the team, with 5.5 tackles for loss.

“It was challenging because there were a lot of different positions I had to learn,” Lucier-South said Thursday after practice at Spaulding Field. “But it was a good learning experience because I learned a lot about inside linebacker, outside linebacker, D-end. So it kind of helped me for this year.”

Lucier-South said he expects to drop back into coverage more often in the new defense, although he stood out in practice early by rushing off the edge against offensive tackles Jake Burton and Andre James. At 6-foot-4, Lucier-South fits the basic physical requirement for a Chip Kelly defense that emphasizes size and length.

Kelly hired a designated outside linebacker coach for his staff, plucking Roy Manning from Pac-12 foe Washington State. The 36-year-old former Michigan linebacker became a fan favorite in Pullman for lively post-game speeches he posted on Twitter, sometimes getting cameos from a robotic pirate in the team’s football facility or filming while lying on the floor next to a stuffed Cougar.

His energy has traveled to Westwood, where he tries to instill a positive mindset in his players while coaching them on the finer points of playing outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme.

“He doesn’t want us to have bad energy on the film or even on the field,” Lucier-South said of Manning. “He wants us to be positive and be ready to work every single day, so he’s been really positive for us.”

Injury updates

Kelly said Thursday defensive lineman Greg Rogers, tight end Jimmy Jaggers and linebacker Mique Juarez are all nursing injuries, although Bruin Report Online reported the former four-star defensive tackle is instead pursuing a transfer. The three players have missed the past three practices and were not spotted on the field in non-contact yellow jerseys. Rogers injured his knee during practice in March and did individual conditioning with the training staff, but has not been on the field since last Thursday.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen has covered UCLA for the Southern California News Group since 2016. A proud Seattle native, she majored in journalism and mathematics at the University of Washington. She likes graphs, animated GIFs and superheroes.